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Corbin Saddle Review...

This review based on my Aero 750 and may or may not work for your bike, so please take that into consideration.

I was in the market for a new saddle for my Aero 750 and looked at the Corbin and Mustang saddles. I decided on the Solo saddle for several reasons.

1. I love being able to customize the saddle. You can use different colors, textures and you can shape the seat to move you forward, backwards, up or down.

2. Price: The Corbin was cheaper than the Mustang.

3. I like the looks of the Corbin much better than that of the Mustang.

I ordered my saddle with the foux turtle leather seating with regular leather belt and side leather. I also had chrome studs put around it. Overall looks are great.

Initial impression is mixed. The saddle it's self looks great and once I got it on my bike it felt much better than the stock seat. I did side by side sit test between my wife’s stock Aero and the Corbin on my bike. I could feel an immediate difference, and it was good. I never realized how low the back end of the stock seat was, because the Corbin has much more back support than the stock seat. Eventually I'll get the back rest that goes with the seat, but for now I'll live with just the seat.

The Corbin moved me back I would guess about 1.5" to 2", but then I asked them to move me back as far as possible and still have a comfortable seat. It feels wider in the front, but a little narrower in the rear. The seat is definitely longer than the stock seat and weighs a good 5 pounds heavier.

The thing that made me feel mixed about the Corbin was the mounting brackets. The brackets were the correct ones for my Aero, but the welded some bolts on the brackets (nice welding job BTW) which then made it not fit my Aero . After some dremel work to remove the bolts it dropped right on with no further problems. I'm a bit miffed that they basically sent the wrong brackets with the saddle, but happy I was able to make it fit.

The other issue is the shape of the saddle doesn't quite fit my butt as it's a little to rounded in the back of the saddle. The seat is also slick compared to the stock seat, which causes me to slide around a little while on the bike.

Here is my 500 mile impression of the Corbin (6/22/05)

Now that I'm about 1/2 way through the break in period I wanted to update my review of the Corbin solo saddle on my Aero 750.

I have had several longer rides consisting of 130 - 150 miles and multiple days commuting to work on the bike. I can tell the seat is breaking in because the shape of the seat has changed as has the feel over time.

I still have a few hot spots on longer rides, but when compared to the stock seat it's greatly improved. On the stock seat I was squirming after about 20 minutes and had hot spots starting at the 15-20 minute mark. On the Corbin I feel the hot spots coming on at around 45 minutes to an hour, and they are more subdued than on the stock seat.

As mentioned above the seat shape has changed during break in. It really is conforming to the shape of my butt as I spend more time on the seat. The biggest change in shape was noticed after leaving the bike in the sun. The heat softened the seat up and allowed it to conform to my back side better. This has relieved some of the sliding around and has also helped a little with the hot spots. After 1000 - 1500 miles I would expect it to fit my rear end fairly well.

The seat has remained slick, but is getting better. I still slide around on the seat more than the stock, but with the break in it gets less and less.

On shorter rides, such as my commute to work (23 miles each way) I find no problems at all with comfort, and find it greatly improved over the stock seat. I used to develop hot spots on my way to work and by the time I got to work I was squirming around a lot. With the Corbin my commute is great and I arrive to work fresh.

The additional back support provided by the deeper cut out seat is nice, especially when accelerating. I plan on adding the back rest, which I think will really help with back support and give me more long term comfort on the bike. Once I pick one up and spend some time on it, I'll give a review with the backrest installed.

Overall, the Corbin is a good improvement over the stock seat. I will suggest that you don't expect any miracles, such as "I spent 9 solid hours in the saddle with no discomfort at all", etc. There is no seat in the world that will allow you to do that. But if you are suffering from severe hot spots, want additional back support, a nice quality "leather" seat, look into the Corbin. For $279.00 it's an excellent buy.

One thing I would like Corbin to do is add to their web site. A better ordering web page that lists all the options you can do to the saddle would be nice. Maybe have a check list that you can click on and see how it changes the saddle so you can get an idea of what it will look like before you purchase it. I do love the look of my saddle, but had I known there was an extra strap on it I would have chosen another style of leather to complement the Turtle seating area on the saddle.

I would also like to be able to choose the shape cut out of the saddle. Maybe offer up three or four images that you could click on so you could better choose the shape of the saddle you pick. Currently you have to describe what you want done, which sometimes doesn't translate very well.

Overall though, I've found them easy to deal with, they put out a quality seat and I would definately recomend this seat to anybody looking to upgrade from the stock seat.